This post is just to let you know that I have been interviewed on an episode of the terrific History of Byzantium podcast by British historian Robin Pierson. Perhaps some of you listen to this podcast–it’s one of the best out there about the history of the Eastern Roman Empire, and I was extremely honored when Robin said he wanted to talk to me about my book Zombies of Byzantium. It’s appropriate that the interview happened now, because the HOB podcast has recently dealt with the siege of Constantinople by the Saracens in 717-718 CE, which is the era and the event against which Zombies of Byzantium takes place.

Robin talked to me about the book, the real-life history of the siege, Emperor Leo and his pistachio nuts, the CryForByzantium twitter feed and even a few things regarding my upcoming books. The podcast is really terrific! It’s 31 minutes long and you can find it at the link in the first paragraph of this article, or click here. You can also follow Robin on Twitter, here.

Richard Shepherd

A great interview, Sean! Very interesting to hear how you put the story together. My girlfriend is currently reading Zombies Of Byzantium at my urging and is completely gripped by it. No doubt she’ll be starting Zombie Rebellion soon and I will be telling her about the interview.

Just finished listening to the interview – great stuff, really interesting to hear your thoughts on both Byzantium and writing. I had a question though: you mentioned at least two reference books, and I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind providing some bibliographic info on them? I think you made reference to the ‘Oxford Dictionary of Byzantium’, which I assume is the version edited by Dr. Alexander Kazhdan? And you also spoke about ‘Everyday Life in Byzantium’ – is this the book by Tamara Talbot Rice? Thanks, I just wanted to confirm as I’d be interested to see if I can track down copies for myself.

Yes, those are the exact books! The one by Tamara Talbot Rice is especially cool, although since the interview aired people have asked me about the “Emperor’s fish” recipe, and looking at it again the book mentions it but the “recipe” isn’t as detailed as I recall. Thus I found the fish described in another source, and I can’t for the life of me recall which one. Nevertheless, setting the fish aside, the Rice book is undoubtedly one of the coolest books I’ve ever read on Byzantium and it was indispensable as I was writing my book. It really lives up to its title. Well worth reading, or, for any serious student of Byzantium, owning. I couldn’t have written my book without it.